Call Signs of the Mobile Riverine Force and other units in
Vietnam

Call signs of the Mobile Riverine Force were clever names meant to confuse
the enemy regarding the actual names and locations of units when communicating
over the radio. This initial call sign list was contributed by Ed
Gorczyk "Dragonfly A-3." These signs were used in the 1967-68
time period. Thanks Ed for getting this started. You may be aware of others or
you can fill in some of the blanks below. If so, please email webmaster
and I'll make the additions/corrections as necessary. You
may also remember different call signs from different years. If so, please
signify the year. We are missing several ships and a lot of 9th Army unit
call signs so please provide those and we'll get them added. Thanks to all
who have provided additions and/or corrections to the list. Your help is
much appreciated.

* Notes to Army Call Signs: Thanks Ron Menner for this excellent information on
breaking down Army Call Signs. The following pertains to the 3rd/47th but could
easily describe other Army units by replacing the call sign. For example, Langley was the call sign for the 3rd Battalion/47th
Infantry/9th Infantry Division. Numbers were added to call signs to indicate the
unit commanders. For example,

Six was used for Commanding Officers (Langley Six was LTC Blackie
Bolduc),

Five for Executive Officers or Second in
Command

Four for Supply/Logistics Officers

Three for Operations Officers

Two for Intelligence Officers

One for Personnel Officers

Company Commanders were, for example,

Langley Alpha Six for A Company, 3rd/47th

Langley Bravo Six for B Company, 3rd/47th

Langley Charlie
Six for C Company, 3rd/47th

Operations Centers were designated Three Three.

Examples: Langley Three was the operations officer of the
3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry. Rifle platoons were identified for example, as Langley Charlie Three Six
which was the Third Rifle Platoon Leader in C company of the 3rd Battalion, 47th Infantry.
At the platoon level, Five would designate the
Platoon Sergeant.

Other interesting Army nomenclature:

SYMBOL

UNIT

xxxx

Army

xxx

Corps

xx

Division

x

Brigade

!!!

Regiment

!!

Battalion or Squadron

!

Company, Troop or
Battery

...

Platoon

..

Section

.

Squad

SYMBOL

UNIT

Crossed Sabers

Cavalry

Crossed Cannons

Artillery

Crossed Pistols

Military Police

Crossed Rifles

Infantry

Flaming Pot

Ordnance

Wheels with Spokes

Transportation

Tank

Armor

Lightning Bolt

Signal

Cross

Medical

While there are exceptions to the rule, a two-number designated unit such as the 47th infantry denotes it belongs to a division
commanded by a two star General. A three-number unit such as the 205th Military
Police belong to a Corps commanded by a three-star General, and a four-number unit
such as the 4077 MASH (Hawkeye Pierce's unit) the 4077 Mobile Army Surgical Hospital belongs to the Army Commander, a four star
General.

Helicopter Support of the 9th Infantry:

The 191st was stationed at Bearcat from 5'67 til 8'68, and then moved to
Dong Tam. They provided combat support for the 9th Infantry Division and the entire MRF, frequently landing on the Benewah and at
Nha Be Naval base for rearming, refueling, etc. Because of their extraordinary
combat record they were also called upon to support the Naval Seal teams, the 25th Inf. Division, the 1st Inf. Div. and the 199 Light Inf.
Brigade.

The 191st Assault Helicopter Company was somewhat
typical of helicopter support for the 9th Infantry. It was composed of 4
platoons. Two "Slick" platoon consisted of 10 helicopters each which
inserted, transported, and extracted troops. The white and yellow tail
markings designated the platoon so the troops would have an easy way to identify
them coming.

The third "gunship" platoon was composed of eight gunships ( armed helicopters, each with
two 8-barrel miniguns with 1,000 rounds of 7.62 per minigun, 6 rocket pods, and two door gunners with hand-held M-60 machine guns with 4,000
rounds per machine gun. The gunships provided protection to the slicks when they were inserting, or picking up, troops. They also provided
fireppower for other units, when needed.

The mechanics who took care of these ships were the fourth platoon.

Other US Navy/Coast Guard
Units/Vessels

UNIT

Call
Sign

USS Advance (MSO-510)

Naomi Delta

USS Agerholm (DD-826)

Battering Ram

USS Aludra (AF-55)

Wallop Lima

USS Arlington (AGMR-2) = Auxillary Communications Major Relay at sea in Yankee
Station

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email if you have comments. Thanks for your interest in learning about the Mobile Riverine Force.